Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Spring 5-6-2026

Faculty Advisor(s)

Lewis Luartz

Abstract

What impact do higher levels of education have on support for democracy in India? Existing research has largely demonstrated that education can foster democratic values through increased political awareness and civic involvement; however, researchers have only just begun to explore how education contributes to developing democracies, where social and political contexts may influence the formation of attitudes in distinct ways. This gap creates a question as to whether or not the positive impacts of education on democratic support hold true across diverse populations. I argue education promotes democratic governance by serving as a catalyst for increased engagement and interaction between citizens and their governments through improved access to political knowledge and norms of behavior; therefore, creating more positive perceptions of democratic institutions. To evaluate this argument, I use data from Wave V of the Asian Barometer Survey to estimate a logistic regression model, focusing specifically on respondents from India. As one of the world’s most diverse democracies, India is an excellent case study for examining differences in social and structural democratic conditions. Preliminary findings show no relationship between education and supporting democracy. Religion does, however, have a large and statistically significant relationship when comparing Islam and Christians to Hindus regarding their support of democracy. A potential reason that explains why education does not have a greater influence on support for democracy is that a large number of people in India receive higher education abroad, therefore they would not necessarily have been exposed to democratic principles through schooling in their home country. Overall, the evidence shows that there are additional factors beyond education that also have an important impact on support for democracy in India.

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Presented at the Spring 2026 Student Scholar Symposium at Chapman University.

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